Champasak Palace Hotel Pakse

... because it look's so damn good! Bec fills up on the pasta and nice Bacon bit's in hers but leaves the Ham, smart girl.<br><br>I on the other hand eat my entire bowl and then eat all her ham, this was the biggest mistake I've made for a long long time, let's just say the lovely dinner we got from the restauraunt back at the Pakse hotel did not stay down long at all, I was in and out of the bathroom all night long, just as well we are staying in Pakse for a little while

... to me in English. They were funny. <br><br> Breakdown <br>We got on the bus again and continued our journey, but then it broke down at 3 p.m. and was only fixed by 5 p.m. Another bus to Pakse passed but was already full, so I'd have had to pay again and stand for hours. I decided to wait for our own bus to be fixed. <br>I spent those hours chatting with the three students and with some French travellers from Lille, a nice couple. The students offered me some ...

... all decided to continue on our journey to the bottom of Laos.<br><br>Marc and i debated on if we had time for the 4000 Islands because it was a long journey on a bus there and a long journey from there into China. The decision to go was the best one we have made. <br><br>The bus was the worst one yet, it was a sleeper bus which had bunk beds smaller than singles for 2 people. It was too small to sit up so you had to lay down, we were just greatful we were together, grown ...

... on a room is just talking total ********- you end up staying an extra day at your destination so as to recover. So, officially, we think that that is the last night bus journey we will EVER do!!!!<br><br>Pakse itself does not have a lot going on, but we hired out 2 motorbikes and packed small bags to set off on a 2 day road trip around the Bolavan Plateau.<br>Had a fabulous 2 days biking in the countryside. Headed to a little village called Tadlo on day 1 and then along a crazy dusty ...

... with my hand, hiring motorbikes wasn&#8217;t an option, so we cut our losses and decided to head to our next destination. We were a little disappointed, however we were quite philosophical as you can&#8217;t travel for such a long time and expect each stage of the journey to go perfectly.<br><br>Here are the photos.<br><br>Next stop, 4000 Islands near the Cambodian border.

... dirt track and the road got extremely bumpy. We both looked and smiled at each other several times as it seemed our driver wasn't that car smart after all. He kept on stalling and leaving the car in gear, causing it to kangaroo when the ignition was turned. The conditions were awful to be fair, but that only turned out to be the start of it.<br><br>In the distance we could see a steep dip and incline and thought that the car might get ...

... simple; We would hire motorbikes, leave our backpacks at our guest house and drive into the Bolaven Plateau, a huge area of natural beauty, where we would spend three days and two nights exploring the many waterfalls, small rural communities and coffee plantations that existed there. I know I'm not alone in saying that I went to bed that night bursting with the same anticipation and excitement as a ten year old on Christmas Eve.<br><br><br>XXX

... I was living in a different world with the mountains in the background and these girls playing petanque as the sun set. I met with Anh on the front porch because she was going to show me how to make flowers with the girls. She showed me how to bend the wire and pull the fabric around the frame to create shapes. The flowers were gorgeous. Around 10 girls came to join us on the front porch and we created the &#8220;Champa&#8221; flower and another flower ...

... returned to the United Kingdom. What a picture of 'cold as charity,' charity shops in the high streets that exist on a throw away society. People in Blighty moan about the recession when there's nothing at all to moan about when you see how the other half really live.) <br>The father of the kids - thin torso with spindly legs - was busy planing off a newly made wooden oar. Seeing me take a picture of him, he posed with it, angled across the front of him.<br ...

... and sandy making it difficult to pedal the machine. We rode around, our curiosity making us take all morning, and came back to our respective accommodation and napped during lunchtime.<br>We were off - again - sojourning at a labyrinth of impressive churning waterfalls among zillions of rocks in an unspoilt wilderness. That's what I appreciate about poor countries, they remain relatively free from man-made development. We sat away from the ...